Pneumatic product handling and recycle system for mobile combines



United States Patent [72] Inventor Edward J. Moe

Mercer Island, Washington [21] Appl. No. 658,753 [22] Filed Aug. 7, 1967[45] Patented Dec. 1, 1970 [73] Assignee Temco Inc.

Mercer Island, Washington a corporation of Washington [54] PNEUMATICPRODUCT HANDLING AND RECYCLE SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMBINES 3 Claims, 2Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 130/2! [51] Int. Cl A011 12/42 [50] Field ofSearch 130/2,21. j 26, 27.6, 27.32, 30(i), 33; 209/10, 257, 30'.;;' 171/ l4, 17 l 1[56] References Cited I v UNITED STATES PATENTS E 2,309,736 2/1943 Makin130/2755 1 2,433,162 12/1947 Scranton et al. 130/2713 l 2,867,322 l/l959Weisenfeld 171/141. 3

FOREIGN PATENTS 696,038 10/1930 France 130/2737.

Primary Examiner-Antonio F. Guida Attorney-Seed, Berry & DowreyABSTRACT: A pneumatic system for conveying peas or lima beans or likeproducts within a mobile harvester or combine from the shellingdischarge point to a holding bin and unloading point, and also forrecycling pods, delivered and separated at the discharge point, to thethreshing drum of the combine for reworking. In one form of the system apositive displacement blower directs an airstream through a conveyingvalve within a hopper or collector at the product discharge point of thecombine to carry the shelled product to a positive receiver or holdingbin. In the same system, the suction or intake side of the blower isconnected to a suction conduit which receives the pods which have beenseparated from the shelled product at the combine discharge point. Thepods are collected by a cyclone type receiver and discharged into thethreshing drumby means of a rotary valve or the like for reworking. Asecond form of the system utilizes a positive displacement blower todirect an airstream through a conduit which receives the pods at thedischarge and separation point and introduces the pods to the threshingdrum of the combine to be reworked.

In this system the suction or intake side of the blower is connected toa suction line which picks up the shelled product by vacuum pressurefrom a hopper or funnel at the discharge point of the combine anddelivers the product to a cyclonetype bin receiver which serves forholding and unloading the shelled product.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 I Sheet 1 IFKGOII EDWARD J. MOE

, INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 1, 1970 3,543,766

EDWARD J. MOE

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS FIHGOZ PNEUMATIC PRODUCT HANDLING AND RECYCLE SYSTEMFOR MOBILE COMBINES The present invention relates to harvesters orcombines used for harvesting and threshing crops such as peas or limabeans. Although various types of mechanical recycling apparatus is usedfor reworking the product several times, the final product dischargedfrom the combine contains a significantly large percentage of unshelledor unthreshed product. Heretofore, the product taken from the combinesin the field had to undergo a separation process when finally deliveredto the processing plant. The present invention provides a separationpoint on the mobile combine itself, and either a positive or a negativepneumatic conveying system within the combine for conveying theseparated product to a holding bin and recycling the pods directly tothe threshing drum of the machine for reworking. The shelled product isthen taken from the combine to the processing plant with no furtherseparation being necessary. With the present invention, additional yieldis obtained from the combine, and a great saving of time is accomplishedby separating at the combine and delivering only the shelled product,ready for treatment at the processing plant.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a deliveryand separation station on the mobile combine itself with a positive ornegative pneumatic conveying system for conveying the shelled product toa holding bin and for recycling pods to the threshing drum of thecombine to be reworked.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following specification and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 illustrates a positive pneumaticconveying system applied to a combine; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a negative pneumatic system applied to a combine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawingswherein like reference numerals indicate identical parts in the variousviews, the positive system shown in FIG. 1 will first be described indetail. It will be understood that the. mobile combine may be any knowndesign, and the details of structure and design of the combine form nopart of the present invention. The combine itself is shown in brokenlines in FIG. 1, and indicated generally at 10. The combine will beunderstood to include a source of power such as a prime mover 11 or itsequivalent and a receiver 12 for receiving the pods to be delivered tothe threshing drum. In addition, a product transfer conveyor 13 whichmay be of any conventional design and which delivers the threshed orshelled product to the product discharge point of the combine designatedgenerally at P. The actual physical location of the receiver 12 andproduct discharge point P, will depend upon the particular design of thecombine involved.

For the purpose of the present specification the system illustrated inFIG. 1 is termed a positive system and that illustrated in FIG. 2 anegative system. The positive system is so designated since positive airpressure is used to pick up and convey the shelled product and thenegative system is so designated because negative air pressureor vacuumis used to pick up and convey the shelled product.

Referring again to the positive system shown in FIG. 1, a positivedisplacement blower, compressor, or other source of air pressure 14 maybe driven by the prime mover 11 or any other power means carried on bythe combine. The conduit 16 is connected to the positive or highpressure side of the blower and the conduit 17 is connected to thesuction or intake side of the blower. In all instances, it will beunderstood that the air pipes or conduits may vary in diameter, and mayhave an outside diameter in the range of approximately I to 8 incheswith suitable flexible couplings and the like being utilized as requiredand withthe various bends and curves in the conduits being fabricated soasto avoid impeding passage of the particular product being handled.These features are considered to be within the skill of one familiarwith pneumaticsystems for handling food products and are therefore notdetailed in this specification.

The product is carried by the conveyor 13, which may be a chain andbucket arrangement if desired, which delivers on to a wide mesh belt 18which allows the shelled peas or lima beans to pass therethrough andinto a hopper or funnel shaped collector 19. The pods which have notbeen threshed will not pass through the belt 18 and are delivered to oneside into the funnel or pan 21. At this point a blower pipe 22,connected to a suitable source of air pressure, may be used to eliminatechaff and dust. It will be understood, of course, that the belt 18 is aconstantly running belt, and any means available may be used to drivethe belt.

The positive air pressure conduit 16 passes an airstream through thehopper 19 and a rotary valve or venturi type valve well known in the artmay be used to receive the product into the airstream. The airstreamcarries the product directly to a positive receiver or holding bin 24for removal.

The suction conduit 17 is connected through the cyclone type receiver 26and a conduit 50 with the hopper or pan 2] which is used to introducepods into the suction line. The hopper 21 may act as a pickup funnel orventuri type valve. The receiver 26 may vary in design, but will includea device such as a rotary valve 27 commonly known to the art fordischarging from a vacuum chamber to atmosphere without breaking thevacuum. The rotary valve 27 may be driven by any suitable meansavailable on the combine and discharges the pods directly into thereceiver 12 for delivery to the threshing drum on the combine. The podsof course are removed from the airstream by action of the cyclonereceiver 26 in a known manner.

FIG. 2 illustrates the second form of the invention which has beentermed a negative system. The same combine 10 with the prime mover 11,product discharge conveyor 13, and the discharge point P is illustrated.The blower 14 also bears the same relationship to the prime mover orother power means and may be located as described with reference toFIG. 1. Likewise, wide mesh belt 18, hoppers 19 and 21 and blower pipe22 may be identical with that described in FIG. 1.

In the present embodiment, the conduit 28 is connected to the highpressure or outlet side of the blower 14 and pods collected in the pan21 may be introduced into the airstream by suitable means such as aventuri type valve associated with the pan 21. The pods are conveyed toa receiver 29 which delivers the pods in a conventional manner directlyto the threshing drum of the combine to be reworked. The details of thereceiver and threshing drum are not required for an understanding of theinvention.

A suction conduit 31 is connected to the intake side of the blower andis connected, through the cyclone receiver bin 32 and a conduit 60, tothe hopper 19 at the product discharge point. The shelled product isremoved from the hopper 19 by vacuum pressure and into the line 31 to bedeposited in the holding bin 32. The shelled product may then be removedfrom the holding bin 32 when desired. Any suitable valve means known tothe art for removing the product from bin 32 without breaking the vacuumin conduit 31 may be used. In both FIGS. of the drawing the directionsof flow of product, pods, and clean air are indicated by arrows 61, 62and 63, respectively.

From the foregoing it will'be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe present invention provides significant improvements in producthandling and recycling system for mobile combines. The arrangement andtypes of structural components utilized within the invention may besubjected to numerous modifications well within the purview of thisinvention and applicant intends only to be limited to a liberalinterpretation of the specification and appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In combination with a mobile combine having product discharge meansfor delivering a product threshed by the combine to a discharge pointand receiver means for receiving material to be rethreshed, a producthandling and recycle system comprising; means to separate the threshedproduct from unthreshed material at the discharge point, first andsecond collector means for collecting the threshed product andunthreshed material respectively, blower means on said combine, firstconduit means connected between one side of said blower means and saidfirst collector means for conveying threshed product, and second conduitmeans connected between the other side 'of said blower and said secondcollector means for conveying the unthreshed material, said firstconduit means including means to deliver .the threshed product to aholding bin, and said second conduit means including means to deliverthe unthreshed material to said receiver means of the combine forrethreshin'g, said blower has an air pressure outlet and a suctioninlet, said first conduit means being connected to the inlet side of theblower and said second conduit means being connected to the outlet sidethereof, said first collector means being adapted to introduce thethreshed product intothe first conduit means by vacuum pressure, cyclonereceiver means in said first conduit means for removing the threshedproduct from the suction line and including valve means to discharge theproduct therefrom without breakingthe vacuum pressure in the firstconduit means, said second collector means being adapted to introducethe unthreshed material into the positive airstream for delivery to saidreceiver means of the combine to be rethreshed.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said means to separatethe threshed product from the unthreshed material comprises acontinuously moveable mesh belt adapted to allow the threshed product topass therethrough and to deliver said unthreshed material to said secondcollector, and air pressure means adjacent the separator means providingan airstream for cleaning foreign material from the product delivered atthe discharge point.

'3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said blower meansconstitutes a positive displacement pneumatic pump.

